Press Release
COUNTY COMMENT CONCERNING THE NOLAN COUNTY JUDGE NOLAN COUNTY – On Wednesday, June 10, 2024, individual members of the Nolan County Commissioners Court were made aware of allegations that Judge G. Whitley May of the Nolan County Court was engaged in criminal conduct, namely the use of cocaine and abuse of alcohol. The allegations were substantiated through an independent review of the public records found in Cause Number CC-8607, a child custody matter currently pending before the 32nd Judicial District Court in Nolan County, wherein the results of a hair follicle drug test showed Judge May to be positive for cocaine and metabolites present when cocaine is used in conjunction with alcohol. The whole of the Court’s file showed that the drug test report was filed following an Order authorizing its disclosure and was relied upon and presumed valid by the Senior District Judge assigned to preside over the case. On Friday, June 12, 2024, the Nolan County Commissioners Court held an emergency meeting pursuant to Chapter 551, Open Meetings, of the Texas Government Code to address this matter of urgent public necessity. At this meeting, the Nolan County Commissioners Court, by unanimous vote of all four Commissioners, suspended the County Judge of all magistrate responsibilities and on-call duties. As such, Judge May would no longer have the responsibility of reviewing arrests, determining conditions of bond, or responding to matters that require judicial oversight outside of regular business hours. Collaborative action has also been taken by various County Officials to assume responsibility of administrative tasks that common practice, but not Constitutional provision or State law, had previously assigned to the County Judge and steps have been taken to redirect criminal matters from the County Court to courts of concurrent jurisdiction, pursuant to the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure and other pertinent statutes. Further suspension or limitation of Judge May’s authority as Nolan County Judge would require his resignation or removal from Office in accordance with Chapter 87 of the Texas Local Government Code or action by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. The Nolan County Commissioners Court will meet in regular session on Monday, July 22, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. There will be an opportunity for public comment at the meeting.
When asked for comment, Judge May provided the following statement:
In response to inquiries relating to my service as Judge of the Constitutional County Court of Nolan County, Texas relating to a private matter involving my family and my children, I provide the following information.
“I am aware that reporters have reviewed the court’s file in the very personal and private matter of my youngest son, his mother and me. I understand these pleadings are public record and that citizens of Nolan County have a right to know about their elected officials. I will always defend the right of citizens to have reasonable access to the public records relating to the conduct of their elected officials. I believe the people are best informed when a vigorous media hold public officials accountable.
However, it is also incumbent on the news media to provide truthful, accurate information to the public. The mere filing of a documents in a court’s file does not make the content of that document or pleading accurate, valid or true.
Further, I believe strongly that the media should, before publishing any material on its website or across the airwaves, ensure the validity, accuracy and truthfulness of the information. Further, the media should ensure that any information contained in any document or pleading was obtained properly, in accordance with state and federal law.
In the instant matter, some who seek to discredit me obtained an invalid and improperly conducted drug test and have published these the invalid results in a public filings without any hearing or opportunity to be heard, to present evidence or to challenge the validity of the invalid, improperly conducted test.
These same folks have chosen to improperly publish the invalid test results without a proper court order or any hearing in front of a judge. I submitted to a test for the presence of controlled substances voluntarily. There was no court order or other requirement that I submit to a test for controlled substances. After taking the test, it became clear to me that the initial test was not properly conducted and the results could not be trusted. There should have been a hearing before a judge to present evidence and allow the judge to determine whether the test results should have been released. There was no such hearing.
There was no such hearing because the subpoena requiring that the test results be brought into court for an evidentiary hearing was ignored and the results were provided to other people without my consent or authorization. There has been no judicial determination as to whether the test was properly performed and whether the results are reliable and therefore admissible. Rather than have the lab technician come into the court and present evidence that the sample was properly obtained and the testing procedures properly followed, the results were published without any review by a fair and impartial judge. While no person is above the law, every person is entitled to the protection of the law.
The irresponsible actions of the lab to which I submitted for the voluntary test has violated my right to private medical records in violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. (HIPPA). The lab did not have my authorization to release the results of my voluntary test. The lab was ordered to produce the medical record before a court of law—not hand them over to some person who showed up and asked to be given my personal medical records without my personal authorization. Obtaining and/or publishing my personal medical records is no different than someone going to your doctor or health care provider or pharmacist and demanding your health care records—no matter what type of procedure or illness might be included in that record.
At all times since the inception of this very personal legal proceeding involving my youngest son and his mother, I have been willing to submit to a voluntary test for controlled substances. I freely and voluntarily submitted to such a test and the test was improperly conducted. The results were compromised. More importantly, I have since voluntarily submitted to three US Department of Transportation qualified drug tests, conducted by a person qualified to administer such tests. Both test were negative for the presence of any controlled substance. I have attached a copy of each of these results to this statement.
It is my hope that all media outlets will exercise discretion and seek out the facts before publishing the results of an invalid and improperly obtained test for controlled substances.
Sincerely,
G. Whitley May, Judge
Constitutional County Court
Nolan County Texas
No further information is available at this time.
